Arvad

Ar'vad

(Heb. Arvad', אִרוָד, wandering; Sept. Α᾿ράδιοι, but properly ῎Αραδος, 1 Mace. 15:23, or, as it might be spelt, ARUD, אֲרוּד; whence the present name Ruad), a small island and city on the coast of Syria, called by the Greeks Aradus (q.v.), by which name it is mentioned in the above passage of the Apocrypha. It is a rocky islet, opposite the mouth of the river Eleutherus (Mel. ii, 7), 50 miles to the north of Tripoli (Itin. Anton.), about one mile in circumference (Curt. 4:1, 6), and two miles (Pliny, v, 17) from the shore (Rosenmiuller, Handb. der Bibl. Ant. II, i, 7; Mannert, VI, i, 398; Pococke, E'lst, ii, 292 sq.; Hamesveld, iii, 44 sq.). Strabo (xvi, p. 753) describes it as a rock rising in the midst of the waves; and modern travellers state that it is steep on every side. (See Volney, ii, 131; Niebuhr, Reisen, iii, 92; Buckingham, ii, 435; Chesney, Euphrat. Exped. i, 451; Shaw, p. 232.) Strabo also describes the houses as exceedingly lofty, and they were doubtless so built on account of the scantiness of the site; hence, for its size, it was exceedingly populous (Pomp. Mela, ii, 7, 6). Those of the Arvadites whom the island could not accommodate found room in the town and district of Antaradus (q.v.), on the opposite coast, which also belonged to them (Targ. Hieros. in Ge 10:18). Arvad is usually regarded as the same with Arpad (q.v.) or Arphad (but see Michaelis, Oriental. Bibl. 8:45). It is mentioned in Eze 27:8,11, as furnishing mariners and soldiers for Tyre, was situated on the shore not far away. In agreement with this is the mention of "the Arvadite" (q.v.) in Ge 10:18, and 1Ch 1:16, as a son of Canaan, with Zidon, Hamath, and other northern localities. It was founded, according to Strabo (xvi, 2, § 13), by fugitives from Sidon (comp. Josephus, A nt. i, 6, 2); hence probably the etymology of the name as above. Tarsus was settled by a colony from it (Dion Chrys. Orat. Tarsen. ii, 20, ed. Reiske). Although originally independent (Arrian, Alex. ii, 90), and, indeed, the metropolis of the strip of land adjoining it, it eventually fell under the power of Persia, but assisted the Macedonians in the siege of Tyre (Arrian, Anab. i, 13, 20). It thence passed into the hands of the Ptolemies (B.C. 320); but, regaining its liberty under Seleucus Callinicus (B.C. 242), it attained such importance as to form an alliance with Antiochus the Great (Eckhel, Doctr. num. i, 393). Antiochus Epiphanes, however, took forcible mastery over it (Jerome in Dan. xi), and after becoming involved in the broils of his successors, it finally came under the power of Tigranes, and with his fall became subject to Rome, into whose triumviral wars its history enters (Appian, Bell. Civ. 4:69; v, 1). Under the Emperor Constans, Muawiyeh, the lieutenant of the Caliph Omar, destroyed the city and expelled its inhabitants (Cedren. Hist. p. 355; Theophan. p. 227). It was not rebuilt in mediaeval times (Mignot, Mem. de l'A cad. des Inscript. 34:229). The curious submarine springs from which the ancient city was supplied with water (Strabo, ed. Groskund, p. 754 n.) have been partially discovered (Walpole, Ansayrii, iii, 391). The site is now covered, except a small space on the east side, with heavy castles, within which resides a maritime population of about 2000 souls. On the very margin of the sea there are the remains of double Phoenician walls, of huge bevelled stones, which mark it as being anciently a very strong place (Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 251). The nautical pursuits of the inhabitants, attested also by Strabo (ut sup.), remain in full force (see Allen's Dead Sea, ii, 183, at the end of which vol. may be found a plan of the island, from the Admiralty Charts, 2050, " Island of Ruad"). SEE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS.